Category: crime & punishment

Here we go again with another example in South Korea of a criminal getting away with a sex crime by claiming the victim did not resist enough, and this time it was a 10 year old girl:

Criticism is mounting over a recent high court ruling that commuted a prison term for a child rapist.

The court said the 10-year-old victim’s testimony was insufficient to prove there was “enough threat and physical assault” that made the victim unable to defend herself ― which would constitute a rape charge.

In the June 13 ruling, the Seoul High Court handed down a three-year jail term to the offender, a cram school teacher surnamed Lee, 35. The sentence was reduced drastically from an earlier term of eight years given by a local court.

Lee met the victim through a chatting app in April last year. He brought her to his home and had her drink two glasses of soju to get her drunk. He then sexually assaulted her by holding her hands and pressing against her body so she could not move.

Lee denied the allegations, claiming he did not know that the girl, who was 160 centimeters tall, was 10 years old at the time, and that he had sex with her with her consent. 

Although the local court acknowledged Lee used threats and physical assaults to the point where she was unable to defend herself, the high court did not ― it said the girl’s statement was the only evidence regarding the threat and assault and that it was insufficient.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this case shows that in South Korea you can get a 10 year old drunk with soju, hold her down, and rape her and not be convicted for forcible rape. At least they up held the statutory rape conviction on him which will keep him in jail for 3 years.

This issue is nothing new ROK Heads may remember the rapist of a U.S. soldier who was set free by this same Seoul High Court because she could not prove that she resisted enough.

This is just an extremely bizarre murder of a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier by a group of Navy Seals and U.S. Marines:

A Navy SEAL convicted in the death of a Green Beret soldier is under investigation by authorities for approaching his victim’s widow under a pseudonym at a Las Vegas party, allegedly requesting access to her room and telling her that the SEALs involved in her husband’s death were “good guys,” according to military documents and three people familiar with the case.

Chief Special Warfare Operator Adam C. Matthews faced a murder charge in the death of Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, and was wearing a Rambo costume at the time, according to the documents, which were obtained by The Washington Post. They were verified with three people familiar with the investigation, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

The encounter adds a new layer of strangeness in the death of Melgar, a member of 3rd Special Forces Group who previously had deployed to Afghanistan. (………)

Melgar was strangled June 4, 2017, after a group of men that had been out drinking burst into his room in the Malian capital of Bamako with a sledgehammer with plans to choke him unconscious, bind him with duct tape and record a video of a Malian man sexually molesting him as part of a hazing plot, according to testimony by a Marine Raider convicted in the case.

Stars & Stripes

You would think Special Forces operators would have more important things to do than plotting how to sexually assault one of their own. What a disgrace.

I am not a fan of the raid on the North Korean embassy in Spain, but one of the perpetrators who was caught definitely should be worried about his life being in danger:

A Korean American man arrested in the U.S. on charges of raiding the North Korean embassy in Spain claims that he faces possibly fatal retaliation from the North should he be extradited to Spain.
 
According to the LA Times, attorneys for the 38-year-old former U.S. Marine Christopher Philip Ahn are making the case before a federal judge in Los Angeles that he is a devoted family man who is not a danger or a flight risk.
 
In court papers filed Thursday requesting his release on bail, the attorneys cited the fact that Ahn was previously involved in the extraction of Kim Han-sol after his father Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader, was assassinated in Malaysia in 2017. 
 
They said Ahn’s life could be in jeopardy in Spain and that North Korea has every incentive to either capture and torture him to extract information regarding Kim Han-sol’s whereabouts or to simply murder him as retribution for embarrassing the regime.

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link.

A trip to Jeju that a man took to visit his daughter at his ex-wife’s house did not go very well:

Police have arrested a woman who allegedly murdered her ex-husband on Jeju Island and mutilated his body before discarding it in at least three locations across the nation. 

Ko Yoo-jung, 36, was apprehended at her house last Saturday in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. 

The victim, surnamed Kang, 36, was meeting Ko on Jeju to see their six-year-old son for the first time in two years since she took custody after their divorce. Kang’s family reported him missing after he didn’t return.

Ko traveled to Wando from Jeju on a ferry three days after the alleged murder. She was caught on surveillance camera footage throwing a plastic bag into the ocean during her trip. 

She had purchased 30 trash bags and a suitcase from a supermarket about two hours before she left Jeju. 

Police suspected that she threw away a similar plastic bag near her father’s house in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. She returned to her house on May 31. 

Korea Times

This Marine was clearly out of control and hopefully will be held accountable for his actions:

The U.S. military has confirmed Japanese media reports that a Marine is facing theft and assault accusations following a weekend incident in Tokyo.

Lance Cpl. Kahsai Hill, 21, was taken into custody Saturday by Tokyo Metropolitan Police on suspicion of robbery resulting in bodily injury after he allegedly punched a taxi driver in the face after not paying his approximately $7.40 fare, according to Kyodo News agency.

The incident happened at about 5:45 a.m. in front of a Shinjuku hotel, the report said.

Hill is also suspected of causing serious injuries to a 19-year-old female member of the Japan Self-Defense Force after allegedly strangling her and breaking her jaw in a fast-food restaurant that he entered while running away, according to investigators quoted by Kyodo.

“I don’t remember. I don’t want to talk until I consult a lawyer,” Hill told police, according to the report.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This woman was lucky not only was this older man walking by, but he was fit enough to run down and catch the rapist:

An Indian man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to rape a Korean woman in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

The suspect, 31, whose identity is being withheld, was arrested on charges of attempting to sexually assault the woman in Seongsan-gu on May 15, police said.

The man dragged her into bushes while she screamed for help, police said.

A man, 59, surnamed Ha, who was walking with his wife and daughter, heard the scream and rushed toward the sound. When he got there, he saw the suspect running away. He gave chase and caught him 300 meters from the alleged crime scene.

“As a father of my daughter, I felt obligated to do so,” Ha said. “Anyone would have done the same if he faced such a situation.”

Police later gave him a plaque of appreciation and 500,000 won ($420) for his brave actions.

Korea Times

Unfortunately it looks like some foreign students in Seoul had to deal with a creepy ajushi:

A building superintendent has been booked for allegedly sexually harassing foreign residents in Seodaemun, northwestern Seoul, Seodaemun police said. 

The suspect, in his 40s, allegedly verbally and physically harassed foreign women, most of whom are studying or on a temporary stay in Korea. The building is used as a dormitory for foreign students of a nearby university. 

Police began their investigation after one of the alleged victims complained.

Police allege the suspect has been harassing foreign residents for a long time. The victims said they did not know how to deal with it.

“He tried to kiss me twice and grab my butt,” one victim told a local news outlet. “He would also ask me to sleep with him.” 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This incident definitely does not put female police officers in a good light:

The government’s move to increase the number of female police officers has been called into question, after a short video of a female officer struggling to contain a violent drunk went viral. 

Frustrated by her “inability,” a petition was posted on the presidential office’s website, calling for an end to the recruitment of female law enforcement officers.

The Moon Jae-in administration aims to increase the proportion of women on the police force to 15 percent by 2022.

“We don’t need a police officer that requests help from citizens when they are making an arrest,” the petitioner said. “There should not be sexual discrimination, but there is a physical difference. The female officers should take the same physical tests as men or be placed in a safer and more comfortable position.”

The video which was posted Friday, shows one policeman and a policewoman confronted by two drunken men, but as the conversation heats up, one of the drunks slaps the male officer. The man was immediately knocked to the ground by the policeman but the female officer failed to restrain the other man, who even tried to push the male officer off his friend.

The policewoman radioed for back up as soon as the male officer was assaulted, which raised criticisms that the officer was unable to control the situation.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I don’t think this is necessarily a female criticism issue, but really more about putting the most effective officers on a patrol like this. The officer is question was clearly not very effective at handling this situation.

Here is a horrible soju fueled murder that occurred in Gimpo. I wonder if he will use the I was drunk offense to get his jail time reduced?:

Yoo Seung-hyun, the former speaker of the Gimpo, Gyeonggi, metropolitan council, admitted to beating his wife to death with a golf club at their home on Wednesday.

Yoo, 55, told police that he drank at least two bottles of soju with his wife from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at their home in Gimpo on Wednesday. 

After they got in a heated argument, he began physically abusing his wife, punching her and beating her with a golf club. 

“I hit her in the kitchen and then she moved into the bedroom, but I didn’t hear her move after that,” he told the police. “We didn’t get along because of some major personality differences and other issues.

“I didn’t think that she could die from it,” he told the police. Yoo reported his wife’s death to authorities on Wednesday, dialing 119 and saying, “My wife is not breathing.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

This story about an Army National Guard officer who stole a tracked vehicle and went joyriding in Virginia continues to get weirder:

The Army National Guard officer accused of stealing an armored personnel carrier from Fort Pickett last June is scheduled to go on trial May 20.
But Joshua Yabut’s trial has been put on hold because the 30-year-old first lieutenant plans to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, according to WTVR. A new hearing in Nottoway County, Virginia, is set for July 2.
Yabut is accused of stealing the military vehicle and leading police on a more than 60-mile chase to Richmond, Virginia, while under the influence of drugs. He said he had permission to take the APC, but Virginia National Guard officials denied that in initial reports.

Army Times

Here is where it gets weirder:

Yabut’s case took another twist in January when he violated the terms of his bond and traveled to Iraq, somehow losing his ankle monitoring bracelet along the way.

He used his valid military ID to board a flight at Naval Station Norfolk before flying commercially from Charlotte, North Carolina, the rest of the way to Baghdad. He returned to Norfolk two days later, according to WTVR. His military ID is no longer valid and he was put back behind bars.

His ultimate destination was Iraq but here was his itinerary:

• Norfolk, Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida
• Jacksonville to Charlotte, North Carolina
• Charlotte to Toronto, Ontario
• Toronto to Keflavik, Iceland
• Iceland to Berlin, Germany
• Berlin to Istanbul, Turkey
• Istanbul to Iraq on Jan. 26.

You can read more at the link, about how he researched being a terrorist and building pressure cooker bombs.